Recently, the malicious dismissal incident of workers being kicked out of 845 work groups with a half-month salary of only 55 yuan has attracted social attention. Although the incident itself has been resolved to a certain extent with the intervention of the labor department and the court's judgment, the phenomenon of "cold violence" forcing employees to resign, as well as the extension of issues such as the protection of workers' rights and interests and corporate employment responsibilities, are still important issues that cannot be avoided in the construction of the labor market.
In fact, cases like "Half-monthly salary is 55 yuan, and people were kicked out of 845 work groups" are not unique cases. Judging from the typical cases released by courts in many places, moving out of work group chats, closing corporate WeChat permissions, deactivating the clock-in system, moving office computers, not arranging work content... Many companies have changed dismissals from "overt" to "covert operations" and used "cold violence" to force employees to voluntarily resign.
Employment is not only an economic issue, but also has an impact on social stability. This is why employment is the foundation of people's livelihood and the foundation of development. However, in recent years, illegal dismissals have occurred frequently, such as the recent incident in which companies "dissuaded" college graduates in batches. These behaviors will not only undermine the employment confidence of workers, especially young people, but also cause considerable damage to the construction of an employment-friendly society. In fact, such malicious dismissals are not good for the company itself, and will produce an obvious "boomerang effect": it will not only damage the company's brand reputation, but also shake the stability of the internal workforce, and backfire on the foundation of the company's long-term development.
In such cases of malicious dismissal, there are many issues worthy of serious consideration. The main reason why companies use "cold violence" to force employees to resign is to avoid statutory dismissal responsibilities.
In my country's current labor laws and regulations, companies have the right to recruit and fire based on actual conditions. But at the same time, the law also sets corresponding dismissal protection rules for workers. Dismissal of employees requires advance notice and payment of financial compensation, changes to labor contracts require consensus, and large-scale layoffs require the opinions of trade unions or employees and reports to the labor administration department. However, if the employee voluntarily proposes to resign, the employer does not need to pay financial compensation.
It is this difference in the system that has led some companies to have a "wrong idea": instead of issuing dismissal notices directly, they use their advantageous position in employment to force employees to resign voluntarily through a series of marginalization and cold violence methods, thereby achieving "zero-cost" dismissal. Some companies even deliberately retain punch-in permissions but fail to provide working conditions. When workers fail to show up for work due to lack of workstations, they will then legally fire them for "serious violation of rules and regulations" to avoid compensation responsibilities. Obviously, this not only destroys the dignity of the law, but also causes great damage to the legitimate rights and interests of employees.
The reason why this kind of "secret operation" succeeds frequently is directly related to the vulnerable status of workers. Faced with the strong behavior of enterprises, workers not only bear huge psychological pressure, but also face difficulties such as difficulty in obtaining evidence, difficulty in producing evidence, and high cost of rights protection. Especially fresh graduates from colleges and universities are often afraid of leaving "dispute records" on their resumes, and are more likely to passively compromise in the face of pressure from companies.
The key to curbing the chaos of companies using "cold violence" to force employees to resign is to limit the power of companies to maliciously dismiss employees, and to work together to create a tight network to protect workers' rights and interests.
It is necessary to clearly define the company’s dismissal rights. At the regulatory level, it is necessary to strictly regulate enterprise employment behavior in accordance with labor laws and regulations, clearly define the illegal nature of using "cold violence" to force employees to resign for the purpose of dismissal, and strengthen supervision, inspection and punishment for behaviors that deprive employees of their work rights and force employees to resign through various disguised means, and plug the gaps in the system for companies to avoid responsibilities.
For enterprises, they should establish the employment concept that "employees are the most valuable wealth". Treating employees well and respecting workers is the foundation for a company's steady and long-term success. Only by fully protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers can we truly mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity of employees and gain long-term advantages in market competition.
Workers must also improve their awareness and ability to use legal weapons to safeguard their rights. When encountering "cold violence", you must immediately pay attention to retaining evidence - screenshots of kicked-out work groups, salary reduction notices, unreasonable job transfer documents, communication recordings, etc., are all key evidence to prove that the company is violating the law. You can first negotiate with the company to restore normal working conditions. If the negotiation fails, you can complain to the labor inspection department, apply for labor arbitration, file a lawsuit, and claim compensation, back wages and other rights through legal channels.
Stable employment means stable public sentiment. It should be clearly understood that in the current context where supply and demand pressures in the labor market still exist and the employment situation is still relatively severe, curbing phenomena such as "malicious dismissals" and "mass dismissal" that harm workers' employment rights and interests is not only an inevitable requirement to safeguard legal dignity and workers' rights, but also a necessary move to promote high-quality full employment and accelerate the construction of an employment-friendly society. Treating employees well is not an additional burden on the company, but the internal logic of the company's sustainable development. Respecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers and building harmonious and stable labor relations can unite employees internally, activate organizational vitality, and consolidate the talent foundation for the company's long-term development; externally, we can establish a good social image and fulfill the social responsibilities of market entities.
(The author Li Changan is a researcher at the National Institute of Opening-up at the University of International Business and Economics)
"Worker Daily" (September 07, 2026, Page 07)
